Welcome to Chicken Heaven On Earth!How to Hatch Eggs in An Incubator

How to hatch chicken eggs in an incubator, includes egg selection, temperature, humidity controls, dangers associated with homemade incubators and much more...also, watch the video of baby chicks hatching in an incubator.

Choosing an Incubator

For some of us, it is frustrating to wait for a hen to go broody and start hatching eggs. Generally a hen will lay one egg per day and will not go broody until she has gathered a clutch of ten or more eggs. If you do not want to wait or your hen just won't go broody and you decide to hatch the eggs yourself there are several different methods you may wish to think about. Purchasing a new incubator that comes with an egg turner and forced air incubators are a good choice. You can watch as the chicks hatch from most commercial incubators. Some of them even have in ovum microscopes that allow you to see inside the egg shell and there even more detailed ones that allow you to take pictures of the inside of the egg-kind of like an ultrasound.When you purchase a new incubator most come with detailed instructions explaining how to use them. If you decide on this option you may want to think about getting one with an automatic egg turner unless you will be available to manually turn the eggs at least three times a day. Prices vary from $20.00-$500.00 and up depending on the size and features that you are looking for such as: Forced Air Incubators and Incubators with automatic egg turners that automatically turn the egg. Which type of incubator you should purchase depends on you, your schedule, and your budget. Scroll down to see more about temperature, controls, humidity, watch the video, and more...

If you want to incubate, hatch, and brood chicks yourself, rather than buying them from a hatchery, this is the guide you need. Poultry authority Gail Damerow explains exactly how to hatch healthy baby chickens, ducklings, goslings, turkey poults, and guinea keets, addressing everything from selecting a breed and choosing the best incubator to ensuring proper set-up and sanitary conditions, understanding embryo development, and feeding and caring for newborn chicks in a brooder. This is an indispensable reference for any poultry raiser, whether you want to hatch three eggs or one hundred.

Hatching Chicks in Farmers innovators Incubator

Selecting the Right Eggs For Hatching

Carefully select the eggs you wish to hatch by making sure that you have chosen fertile eggs from good breeding stock. Choose your best, healthiest hens and a young healthy rooster to mate with your hen's regularly. Inbreeding is commonly used among showbird breeding but is not recommended because it reduces the fertility and hatching rate of the eggs. Make sure that your chickens are eating a healthy diet of grains, greens, and grit.

Wash or Don't Wash Eggs

It is not a good idea to wash eggs before trying to hatch them in an incubator. Washing removes the protective coating and can allow bacteria to enter the egg shell which could easily contaminate the unborn fetus. If washing is a must be sure to do it quickly, do not immerse the eggs in water but gently wipe with a cloth and water that is warmer than the egg temperature.

Storage of Eggs Prior to Using Them in the Incubator

It is best if you can use eggs that are freshly hatched but if you have to store them for a short period of time until you can get enough eggs to fill your incubator then you should store them of fresh hay, straw, pointy end down, and rotate them once a day. Do not use eggs stored longer than 7 days. Fertile eggs purchased through the mail should be kept pointy side down for 12-24 hours. Make sure that your stored eggs are allowed to sit at room temperature before placing them into the incubator.

Eggs Should Be Candled Prior to Placement In the Incubator

Before you place any eggs in your brooder or incubator you need to candle them. Candling will show you if there is an embryo in the eggs or not. Eggs that are not fertile will most likely explode inside your incubator which can be very difficult to clean up and depending on what type off brooder you are using could even cause it too short circuit. Chicks should be hatched indoors and monitored frequently by candling the eggs and checking the temperature and humidity levels of the brooder. Candling your eggs every few days will show you how well your baby chicks are developing. Make sure you close your incubator while candling.

Incubator Temperature and Humidity Control

It is very important to maintain the proper temperature and humidity inside the incubator. Too much humidity can cause "mushy chicks" and not enough humidity can cause the shells to dry out. Maintaining the proper temp and humidity will give you a better shot at hatching healthy baby chicks. Every incubator should come with complete use and instructions guides that will tell you the correct temperature and humidity controls to use. If you have lost your instructions you should look up the incubator manufacturer's name and model number to get a replacement set of instructions. Many incubator manufacturer's have the instructions listed on their websites. Location of incubator-Place your incubator in a room that has a stable temperature, away from windows and drafts, and out of direct sunlight so that you do not have extreme temperature changes inside the incubator influenced by outside temperatures. Temperature inside incubator-Always purchase another thermometer so you can gauge whether or not your incubator thermometers are working correctly. Incubator temperature should be kept at 99.5 degrees F. Water should be added 4 days before hatch date. It takes 21 days for standard breeds and 20 days for bantams to hatch eggs so mark your calendar accordingly. Check your incubator temperature and humidity several times throughout the day but avoid opening the incubator as much as possible. Make sure your incubator has proper ventilation and if it does not have an egg turner you will need to turn the eggs manually once every day. Be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions exactly and never trust the thermometer that comes with an incubator.Humidity-Humidity affects the chicks weight gain and loss by affecting the amount of moisture that is lost during incubation. Improper humidity percent can result in blind, helpless chicks with crooked toes. Your incubators humidity should be kept between 13% and 15 %. desirable humidity during the first 18 days of incubation is around 50% to 55% Relative Humidity (equivalent to wet bulb thermometer readings of 82°F [28°C] to 88°F [31°C]). Use lukewarm water when filling water trays inside your incubator.

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Dangers Associated With Homemade Incubators

Homemade incubators are not a recommended way to hatch eggs for several reasons such as safety and fire hazards. A heat lamp can be used to hatch eggs but we do not recommend this as there is a considerable risk of fire if the container is not metal, gets to hot or if left unsupervised can easily catch on fire plus it is almost impossible to maintain the proper temperature and humidity controls needed. The heat lamp must be kept far enough away from the eggs so that the internal temperature of the eggs does not get so hot that it cooks the chicks. Cardboard boxes should not be used with a heat lamp. The lamp should be secured by more than the clamps as they can easily get knocked over by other pets or people. I have seen one get knocked off by wind from an opening door and even though it had pulled loose of the wall plug it still quickly ignited the bedding. Luckily, I was there at the time when it happened. Any time I use a heat lamp for keeping chicks warm, I securely tie it using electric fence wire on three sides and secure the other ends to a screw on the wall or beams.

Today's Verse

And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matt. 25:30